You are here

Let's Talk Story - Down to Earth Blog

Everyone is talking about "sustainable" solutions for a better planet. It has become a lucrative business for many companies to offer "sustainable" or "green" solutions. However, not all these solutions are as useful, or "sustainable" as one might think.

Natural foods, what are they, and why are they good for you? Unfortunately, there are no commonly agreed upon national or international standards that formally define and regulate "natural foods" or "all-natural foods." The natural products industry defines natural foods as foods that contain no hormones, antibiotics, artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives that were not in the original food, and are foods that are minimally processed—either mechanically, chemically, or by temperature.

What is organic food and how does it help you improve your health and the environment?

The goal of organic agriculture is to produce foods using a natural and sustainable food production system that sustains our health and the health of soils and ecosystems. It does this by avoiding the use of harmful chemicals such as toxic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, and by prohibiting the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), toxic sludge, irradiation, or other production methods that are harmful for the environment.

What we eat can cause or worsen diet-related illnesses and thus has a significant impact on our quality of life.

Virtually all the major scientific and medical institutions in the world agree that the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke, obesity, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, cancer, and diabetes, among other diseases is linked to a meat-based diet consisting of highly processed foods laden with fats and artificial ingredients. These institutions further agree that the risk is greatly reduced by adopting a healthy low-fat, high-fiber diet.

What makes it wrong, and the idea of it even repulsive, to eat a pet, but okay to slaughter other animals and put them on the dinner table or in our children’s lunch box? Our pets earn a special place in our hearts and often are treated as members of the family. Great efforts and expense are taken to see that they are kept safe, well-nourished, comfortable and happy.

What we choose to eat is one of the most significant factors in the personal impact we have on the environment and the fastest path to climate change. A recent study examining the impact of a typical week’s eating showed that plant-based diets are better for the environment than those based on meat. A vegan organic diet had the smallest environmental impact while the single most damaging foodstuff was beef. All non-vegetarian diets require significantly greater amounts of environmental resources such as land and water.

If you could take a pill that would improve your health, help save the environment, soften your heart and spirit of compassion ...would you do it?. While it is not a magic pill, the simplest and most effective means to achieve this is to adopt a vegetarian diet. There are significant moral, ethical, environmental, health, and humanitarian benefits of adopting a vegetarian lifestyle. The personal health benefits alone are significant, and the benefits of society as a whole shifting towards a vegetarian diet are earth changing.

Cables released through the controversial website Wikileaks reveal that the US government is trying to enact an aggressive pro-biotech agenda even in the face of entrenched international opposition. The cables in question were written by Craig Stapleton, the US ambassador to France, in 2007.

Two weeks ago, with the First Lady looking on, President Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids act in a special ceremony at the Harriet Tubman Elementary School in Washington D.C. The passage marked an important victory for Michelle Obama's Let's Move campaign, and President Obama joked that had he not managed to get it passed, he would have been sleeping on the couch. But other than a well-rested President, what effect will this legislation have on the day-to-day life of the nations schoolchildren?

GMOs are, without a doubt, the most important issue of our generation. The decisions made now will have a decisive and irreversible impact on food security and health for uncountable numbers of generations in the future. Following a drawn out legal challenge to biotech industries by concerned farmers, the USDA recently announced that they are considering total or partial deregulation of GM alfalfa. Please educate yourself about this vital issue.